ARTICLES ABOUT JURY TRIAL BY DATE - PAGE 3

Two Harbor Springs teenagers, involved in a recent crime spree in northern Emmet County, are set for sentencing next month in 57th Circuit Court. Matthew Douglas Sundmacher and Michael Robert Bowman, both 19, recently pleaded guilty to one count of conducting a criminal enterprise — a 20-year felony. As a result of their plea, the Emmet County Prosecutor’s Office is dismissing 14 felonies against Sundmacher and four against Bowman. Sundmacher was arrested April 30 by the Emmet County Sheriff’s Department, and is alleged, along with Bowman and 24-year-old Joshua Daniel Keller of Petoskey, to have planned and conducted home invasions in March and April at private residences located at 3635 and 3692 Sturgeon Bay Shores Trail, and 1985, 4900, 4916 and 6646 Lower Shore Drive; as well as breaking into the Cross Village General Store and a pole barn at 1840 Stutsmanville Road.

A Petoskey man will face a jury trial later this summer for criminal sexual conduct. Scott Douglas Jewell, 36, who is alleged to have sexually assaulted a 14-year-old boy from April 2009 to May 2010 in Emmet County, is facing trial Aug. 31-Sept. 2 in 57th Circuit Court for eight of his original 14 felony counts. According to an affidavit in circuit court, the victim reportedly told police that Jewell assaulted him more than 20 times, but less than 100 times, during the past year, with assaults occurring in Pellston, Alanson and the Petoskey area.

A Petoskey man facing multiple drug charges in Emmet County, as well as a possible murder charge in Antrim County, is scheduled to face a jury trial this July in 57th Circuit Court. James Jeffrey Lauer, 49, was arrested in February by deputies from the Emmet County Sheriff’s Department after police executed several search warrants on Feb. 16, in pursuit of a working methamphetamine lab. During this time, Lauer’s home was searched, resulting in the seizure of meth, cocaine and marijuana.

A Petoskey man will face an Emmet County jury in June for alleged criminal sexual conduct. Matthew Thomas Hagadone, 52, was arrested Aug. 26, 2009, by the Petoskey Department of Public Safety, after he was alleged to have sexually assaulted a woman on Aug. 13 while she was ill and sleeping. According to an affidavit in 57th Circuit Court, the victim told police that she and Hagadone had dinner in her apartment prior to the assault. After they had eaten, she and Hagadone went for a walk, during which time, she suffered a seizure.

GAYLORD — Otsego County’s 46th Circuit Court Judge Janet Allen was forced to declare a mistrial Monday after jurors in the assault with intent to murder trial of James Platte Jr. were unable to reach a verdict following two days of deliberations. Allen said jurors were deadlocked on all three counts — assault with intent to murder, a felony with a penalty of up to life in prison; fleeing the scene of a personal injury accident, a five-year-felony; and domestic violence-aggravated assault, a one-year misdemeanor — resulting in the hung jury which compelled Allen to declare the mistrial.

A Petoskey man, who is facing multiple drug and weapons charges in connection to the recent discovery of a methamphetamine laboratory in Harbor Springs, is scheduled for a three-day jury trial beginning May 19 in 57th Circuit Court. Brian Keith Haag, 40, was arrested Feb. 16, after police paid a visit to his apartment to investigate a possible probation violation. While there, police discovered Haag, who had recently pleaded guilty in 90th District Court to delivery of heroin as a habitual offender - third offense, was allegedly in possession of narcotics and in the vicinity of firearms — which was against the terms of his probation.

A mother and son from Harbor Springs, each of whom are facing multiple drug charges stemming from their alleged operation of a methamphetamine laboratory, will face a three-day jury trial beginning June 1 in 57th Circuit Court. Matthew Scott Stoll, 22, and his mother, 44-year-old Karen Jean Bergey, were arrested Feb. 16 by officers from Straits Area Narcotics Enforcement, with the help of the Emmet County Sheriff’s Department, after police discovered a working meth lab in the garage of their rented home at 1162 Tower Road in Harbor Springs.

A Petoskey man who is facing weapons, child abuse and domestic violence charges, is scheduled to go to trial early next year. Craig Thomas Hand, 20, of Resort Township, who is alleged to have abused his wife and 11-month-old daughter, as well as threatened them with a gun, is scheduled for a two-day jury trial Jan. 11-12 in 57th Circuit Court. Hand was arrested Sept. 11 by deputies from the Emmet County Sheriff's Department after he was alleged, by his wife, to have verbally assaulted her and her daughter before pushing them to the ground.

A jury trial for an East Jordan man facing a homicide charge has been dismissed in Charlevoix County's 33rd Circuit Court - for now. Charlevoix County Prosecutor John Jarema told the News-Review in a phone interview Friday, that he dismissed the trial against 23-year-old Zachary Charles Woodthorp on Monday - a day before the trial was scheduled to begin - in light of new evidence, which he believes could change the case. Woodthorp was scheduled to face a two-day jury trial Oct. 13-14 in Charlevoix County Circuit Court for one count of involuntary manslaughter - a 15-year felony - for allegedly causing the Nov. 5, 2008, traffic crash on Boyne City-East Jordan Road that killed 65-year-old James Richard Browe of Ellsworth.